Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow. Oh man oh man, if I ran CW-DCTV, so much stuff would be different.

Thanks are extended to WillozSummers for beta-reading

Author's Note: This first chapter is a little shorter and slower than most will be, ideally, but I wanted to set some stuff up. We'll see things from Laurel's POV and Sara's POV the most, but there will be Oliver POV scenes as well. In general, I'll try to avoid rewriting scenes that happened exactly as they did in canon with no deviation - in general, if I don't include a scene in the fic and I don't reference any changes to it, it happened more or less the same in canon, unless the course of the AU would render it impossible.

Author's Note 2: Okay, so, I'm going to sketch out the premises of the AU here, because trying to show it all via flashbacks would be impractical at best, and come off as badly written exposition at worst (An advantage of fanfiction is that we all know the basic material and I can explain things via A/N)

The changepoint is before the Queen's Gambit - Oliver, while he still does get afraid of the commitment as he and Laurel move their relationship forward, does not make the choice to sabotage things via Sara - so no cheating, and no inviting Sara onto the Queen's Gambit.

Instead, he asks Laurel to come with him on the Yacht, sort of a chance to unwind and relax before she takes the LSAT. Essentially he's also using it as a 'ease into living together' thing - it's just a vacation, after all, but they'll be there on the Yacht for weeks.

The majority of the five years happen the same way for Oliver, broadly - Oliver initially believes Laurel is dead, which of course fucks him up, then she arrives on the island with Ivo, then after things go down with Slade, he assumes she's dead again - but Laurel ends up in the League. Laurel and Nyssa do not get together romantically, but they do become close.

At some point while Oliver is in Russia, Laurel is on a League mission in Russia, and that's when they meet, both realize the other is alive, and after an emotionally messy and fraught reunion, Laurel, who hates what she does for the League (but felt trapped and hopeless) leaves the League (after faking her death for their benefit) and once Oliver is done in Russia, she returns with him to Star City. Which is where the story starts.

Obviously, by switching Laurel and Sara, things change in Starling City, but those are things I can explore in the fic itself.

Vigilantes' Dawn

By Kylia

Chapter 1: The Prodigals' Return

Looking back on the history of the so-called 'Age of Superheroes', while masked vigilantes, even people with... unusual powers can be traced well before the official start of the period, it is with the rise of the Arrow and the Black Canary - or as we know them today, Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance - in Starling City that really kicked off the rise of major public awareness of these superheroes, of the vigilantes - and all the good and bad that came with them.

It all started one day in October, 2012, when two people were rescued from a small island in the South China Sea...

-Excerpt from "Age of Superheroes: The Dawn of the Vigilante," by Diana Queen, PhD Published by Starling City University Press, 2123.

Starling City Police Department

October 8th, 2012

Detective Sara Lance of the Starling City Police Department was not, at least at the moment, a happy woman.

Of course, as far as she was concerned, it was hard to qualify as a happy woman when you were the newest Detective in the SCPD and being assigned the cases no one else wanted. The ones no one expected to be solved, or that were unpleasant in some other way.

Sighing deeply, Sara shuffled the crime scene photos on her desk, as if rearranging them would give her some magical insight she hadn't had before. Unsurprisingly, it accomplished nothing.

No witnesses, and no leads until the lab can get to me, and given how backed up they are…

Sara didn't regret her choice to become a cop. When Laurel had gotten onto that damn yacht with Oliver, Sara hadn't had any clue what she wanted to do with her life. Not really. Just aimlessly puttering around, partying harder than she should…

And then she'd gotten the news. The Queen's Gambit had been lost, all hands.

The events of the day they'd all found out, when Moira had come to tell them personally, were burned into her memory. As was the day when her parent's marriage shattered completely just a few months later and she was told they were getting a divorce.

Sara had never planned on following her Dad's footsteps in becoming a police officer. The whole cause of justice thing – that had been Laurel's plan, her goal, once she became a lawyer. Dinah Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world.

None of that, that crusading zeal, had appealed to her at all. Seemed… too much work.

But her sister's death had forced Sara to reevaluate herself, and what she wanted out of her life. And seeing her father spiral downward after the divorce had only confirmed her choice for her. She was all he had now, and he was all she had.

She wanted to help people, be close to her father, and honor Laurel's memory. And she wanted to do something with her life.

And so… here she was. And for all the annoyance she felt at being treated like the newbie she was, or at the occasional whisper that she had only become a Detective so fast because of her father… there was nothing else she'd rather be doing with her life.

The sound of her ringing cell phone jolted her out of the case file and out of her roaming thoughts.

"Lance here," she said as she answered.

"Sara – are you at the station? Is your father there?"

"Mrs. Queen?" Sara spoke quietly, half covering her mouth with her hand.. She didn't hate the Queen Family, what was left of it, for Laurel's death, not like her father did... indeed, she'd tried her best to stay connected with them - especially Thea. Sara could only wish her efforts to help Thea not make the same mistakes she had in her youth had actually worked. As it stood... they really hadn't.

But the Queens had lost loved ones too - and worse than she had. And they understood. So she'd stayed in touch with Moira.

"I am... and... Dad's here too... why? Is something wrong? Is it Thea-?"

"It's not Thea." Moira said, her voice breaking a little. "Sara - Sara... it's Oliver and Laurel. They're alive."

Starling General Hospital

October 10th, 2012

Sara wasn't sure what was worse - the stiff, almost robotic way her sister was standing in the other room, or the litany of damage to her body the doctor was rattling off to her and her father.

"Her body is covered in scars... there's a major second-degree burn across her back... she's got several broken bones - her left arm twice, based on the X-Rays, and few of them weren't allowed to heal properly." The doctor lifted the page on the clipboard, apparently ready to keep listing still more injuries.

"Has she - has she said anything about what happened?" Her father interrupted softly, holding onto Sara's hand tightly as he turned to the doctor. Sara felt a surge of sudden gratitude for her dad - she didn't want to hear still more about all the hell her sister must have gone through.

The doctor shook his head. "No. Neither of them have said anything about it. I can only guess at how traumatic whatever they went through in the last five years was. But they didn't take well to being separated, even for testing and X-Rays. They've obviously relied on each other for survival to a very significant extent on that island. My guess would be that it would be for the best that she and Mr. Queen aren't kept apart for long periods of time, for the immediate future."

He looked from her father back to Sara. "I'll tell you what I told Mrs. Queen about her son. The Laurel you lost might not be the one here, now. You should prepare yourselves."

Sara swallowed slowly, but she knew how right he was to warn them. She'd seen the effects horrible experiences could have on people as a police officer, and Laurel had five years of it.

"Can we - speak with her?" Sara asked softly.

"Of course," the doctor stepped aside and Sara followed her father as he walked into the hospital room.

"Laurel?" Her dad said quietly, as if speaking too loudly might cause him to wake up and find out this was all some dream. Not for the first time, Sara pinched herself lightly... but she didn't wake up... this was real.

Her sister was alive.

Laurel turned to look at them and the look in her sister's eyes was enough to make Sara's heart ache. She really did have that distant, removed look... but it softened just a little, and what looked like almost a smile played across her face for a moment.

"Dad... Sara," She walked towards them slowly, and then her father drew close.

"You're alive... my baby girl," He wrapped her in a tight hug that Laurel returned, but it was an awkward, almost unsure motion. But Sara saw a hint of tears in her sister's eyes as the hug finally ended and Sara stepped forward, hugging Laurel herself, finally letting herself accept that this was happening. This was really happening.

"It's really you," Sara said after a moment, unable to stop her eyes watering. "You're really here." She took a deep breath, not letting the awkwardness of her sister's return hug bother her, understanding what must be behind it.

"I'm here," Laurel said softly. She looked past them, to the door, opening her mouth to ask the obvious question, but her dad answered it before she could.

"Your mom she - she, uh... she's on her way. She doesn't - she doesn't live in Starling anymore," He explained. Sara watched Laurel's eyes go to her dad's hand, the missing ring and he nodded. "Yeah... but this isn't the time for that. This is about you, you being alive!" He put her hand on Laurel's shoulder. "I don't even know where to start... what happened to you and Queen?"

"We got to one of the life rafts and eventually we washed up on the shore of an island. We stayed alive." Laurel answered tersely. "He saved my life, Dad. More than once." Laurel's tone was still quiet, but Sara heard that tiny note of reproach in her sister's voice. Dad had never approved Laurel dating Oliver, not really, but she'd always insisted there was more to him than seemed on the surface.

I guess she was right.

"Laurel, if he's the reason you're alive to come back to me, I'll happily eat crow on every bad thing I ever said about him." Her dad responded, smiling a little. "How about we see about getting you out of this hospital?"

Laurel nodded. "That... that sounds good." She looked over at Sara and her eyes fell to the badge at her belt.

Sara nodded. "After you - after we thought you died... I couldn't just keep wasting my life. Just made detective six months ago." She couldn't help the pride in her voice as she said that.

"You were twenty, Sara. You weren't wasting your life," Laurel responded, but she went on, "But I'm glad you... you found a calling. That you're helping people." Laurel wrapped her arms around her middle, looking around, "I know the doctor wants to keep me here longer but... I'm... I'm okay. Promise. Can we... can we go home?"

"Of course. I'll go talk to that doctor," her father said, pulling Laurel in for another brief hug, Laurel's return of it still looking more like going through the motions, but then he left the room quickly.

They stood silent, almost awkwardly for a long few moments, and Sara took the chance

"What... what happened to you? All those injuries... the doctor..?" She didn't want to pry, but she had to know, had to ask. It was Laurel and hearing all that had happened to her, the scars, the burns, the broken bones...

"The island... it was... it was hell." Laurel answered softly. "If it hadn't been for Oliver... if..." she trailed off, and Sara held up a hand, interrupting.

"Don't... don't force yourself to talk about it you aren't ready, Laurel," her burning curiosity took a backseat to Laurel's wellbeing.

Laurel nodded, "Thank you. I... I just don't - I don't want to think about it. At least not right now."

"I understand, I do. Even six months as a detective and I'm learning just how..." Sara trailed off, not wanting to really think about her sister, the strong, idealistic, brilliant girl she'd looked up to - and resented, granted - could be... damaged, by the hell she experienced, whatever it was exactly. She changed the topic somewhat. "You and Oliver... alone, on the island for five years." She smirked a little, trying to put a teasing tone into her voice.

Thankfully, Laurel offered a slight smile - obviously just humoring her, but still. "If I had any doubts about wanting to spend the rest of my life with Oliver... well... I don't now."

"The doctor said you two didn't - you didn't take well to being seperated well... are you sure you're fine to just... go back to Dad's apartment? We... after Mom... Dad sold the house. I have my own place and-"

"I'll... I'll manage. We're... we're back in civilization. I can... I can be separate from Oliver without," Laurel bit her lip for a second, then started again. "On the island... we got separated, at one point. For days - I'm not sure how long... time... was weird, on the island. I thought... I thought he was dead - he thought the same about me... we..." she trailed off. "We didn't spend any time that far from each other, after that. But..." she laughed, sounding actually a little genuine in her humor.

"Now we can just call each other, if we get separated." She went quiet for a moment, and then, "Is there any chance it could be at your apartment? Not - not Dad's? I just... I don't want him treating me like I'm made of glass... and you know he will."

True. Not that Sara wasn't trying to be gentle too, but it would be easier for her not to go that far. Dad hadn't been exactly pleased that Sara had gone into the police, after all. Not at first.

"Of course," Sara nodded, "I only have the one bed - I can take the couch and-"

Now it was Laurel's chance to hold up her hand, interrupting Sara, "I won't make you sleep on your couch, Sara. I slept on rocks and dirt - a couch would be a nice change of pace."

Starling General Hospital

October 10th, 2012

Laurel hadn't lied to her sister, about not wanting to have her dad treat her like glass. But it would be easier to work out of Sara's apartment until she and Oliver could find a place. They'd be freer to do their work from there - well, some of it, anyway.

Assuming his family lets him out of their sight. Moira Queen wouldn't want Oliver to move out, but she'd probably be more okay with it if he was moving in with Laurel.

Mom always thought the fact that I loved you was proof that whatever else, she'd raised me right. It was something Oliver had told her, on the Yacht, a few hours before it had gone down. Before their lives had changed.

Laurel closed her eyes for a long moment, then nodded again. "The couch is fine... Sara, really. Oliver and I... I mean, we were already talking about moving in together before... before. So... we figure..."

"That you'll move in together now? Makes sense." Sara smiled and gave her another quick hug. "At least - at least you still have him. You know? And like you said, no more doubts about spending your life with him."

"None," Laurel agreed. The door opened again and her father returned with the doctor, Mrs. Queen and Oliver in tow. Oliver walked past them to stand by her side - she took his hand in hers, holding on.

Just because we can be separated doesn't mean I want to be. Two and a half years, after defeating Slade, thinking Oliver was dead. A chance sighting in Russia... if she hadn't lost sight of her target, she may not have even seen Oliver at all... may not have realized he was alive...

I'd still be with the League.

And Laurel wasn't sure how much her soul would have been able to take staying with them for much longer, even given... everything. The costs of leaving the league. And sooner or later, they'd realize that she hadn't died in Moscow.

I'm back - publicly. There's no way they can just... they can just come after me. Too much exposure. That was her hope.

"I'd really rather keep the both of you here overnight, for observation, run a few more tests, but... your parents tell me you'd both rather leave."

"We missed five years with our families, doctor," Oliver said quietly. "We just want to go home." Laurel nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'd like for both of you to come in for some follow-up in a few days, but otherwise... you're free to go," He wrote something in on his clipboard.

"Laurel - Quentin, Sara," Mrs. Queen said as the doctor turned away and left the room, "I'd like to - I'd like to ask you all to come to the Manor for dinner, at least... just our families. Together."

"If Laurel's good with that, I can be," her father said after just a second. Then he held out a hand, "Mrs. Queen, I've been... unfair to your family, hating you for what happened to Laurel. Sara kept telling me I was being stupid but uh... well, stupid is sometimes my speciality. You lost people you loved... and while you have Oliver back, and I have Laurel back... you still..."

He trailed off then cleared his throat, starting again. "Look, I just want to apologize, for being such an ass."

"Apology accepted, Quentin," Mrs. Queen held out her hand and they shook.

Dining Room, Queen Manor

October 10th, 2012

"Okay, what else did you miss," Tommy Merlyn started as the maid took away their plates. Moira Queen had said family only, but for all intents and purposes, Tommy was the brother Oliver never had, and so here he was. Besides, while she'd never been as close with Tommy as Oliver had, he'd been her friend too. Hopefully he still will be, for both of us, whatever else changed.

"Superbowl winners: Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and 'Lost'? They were all dead, I think."

"You missed the last three Harry Potter movies," Sara added.

"Three?" Laurel blinked, "They'd come out with the 5th movie already when I-"

"They broke book seven into two movies. It sounds like it was just a gimmick to make money, but it actually works pretty well," her sister explained.

"So... a lot to catch up on," Laurel considered. Not that they'd really have time to stay abreast of all the pop culture they'd missed.

"What was it like there?" Thea interjected suddenly, looking from Oliver and then over to her.

Laurel blinked for a moment, as everyone at the table went silent. Finally, Oliver answered first:

"Cold."

Oliver... Laurel bit her lip then spoke: "There were... a lot of trees. No beds... a lot of food we burned on the fire trying to cook it, at first." The truth of all that, of course, was dubious, but they'd prepared their stories about their 'time on the island' well.

"Since you two have a lot to catch up on, why don't we do the city tomorrow?" Tommy suggested.

"That sounds like an excellent plan," Moira nodded.

"I'd love to, Tommy, but... Mom's plane lands tomorrow morning," Laurel replied, looking over at her dad. "You said seven thirty, right?"

He nodded. "She took the earliest flight she could... she suggested we should meet at Sara's place." There were so many questions Laurel wanted to ask about the divorce, the whys and the wherefores - was it something that had been brewing beforehand, that she hadn't noticed? Or was it all after her 'death'?

"Then it'll be just the two of us, maybe meet up with Laurel later?" Tommy suggested, and Oliver nodded.

"Afterwards," he added, looking at Walter, "then - I was hoping to swing by the office."

Walter equivocated, and Laurel wondered what he was trying to hide. "Well, there's plenty of time for all that - Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere-" before he could finish, Raisa tripped and nearly fell on him, starting to apologize, but Oliver replied in Russian, telling her not to worry.

"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy's incredulity was matched by everyone else at the table apart from her.

"I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver," Walter started, but he was interrupted again, this time by Oliver.

"And I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter ."

"Oliver!" Laurel hissed at him as the table went silent - again. "Could you - could you excuse us a moment?" She stood up and grabbed Oliver's hand, all but dragging him out of his chair, but he followed her out of the dining room into the hallway, closing the door behind them.